When the organisers of the conference *“Why Can’t We All Be Seen? Identity and Diversity in Textbooks”* approached me about giving a talk, my first instinct was to say no. I didn’t feel like the expert. But the more we talked, the more I realised I had something to share. As a designer and illustrator, I deal with diversity in almost every project I take on.
My work is varied — I illustrate, design books, and I also help companies build their services for people. The principle behind it is the same. I think about the people who will interact with the final product. And in illustration, I want my drawings to reflect a world that is colourful, diverse, and open to everyone.
For those of you who couldn’t attend the conference, I’ve put together a written version of my talk on how I work with diversity, including my favourite creative techniques.
I chose three themes that seem to appear in almost every children’s library eventually: family, sex, and football. How we choose to depict these topics can either expand or limit the way children see the world.
This example is the first illustration in my favourite The Big Picture Book for Little Kids. Mum is in the kitchen with the children, while Dad sits in the living room reading the newspaper. This is the kind of family I grew up seeing in books.
As a child, I didn’t think much of it. But now, I see how limiting that image is. Today, I want to see different (all) kinds of families represented in children’s books.
Velká obrázková knížka pro malé děti | The Big Picture Book for Little Kids, 1976
Spot the Differences
These traditional depictions of family life are slowly evolving, as seen in the updates to classic books. Take, for example, the covers of Richard Scarry’s famous children’s book from 1963 and its updated version from 2013. Can you spot at least four differences? These changes reflect how society has evolved. And it’s not just the cover — similar updates were made throughout many of his books.
Richard Scarry’s Best Word Book Ever, 1963 | 2013
When I was growing up, one of the very few sources of information about sex was a French encyclopaedia series. The illustrations were realistic, and covering many important topics. But again, from diversity perspective, I see one glaring omission: every character on the covers was white. The book unintentionally excluded children from other racial or cultural backgrounds.
